Official State Religion?

In a recent survey, the Huffington Post discovered that 34% of respondents would be either in favor or strongly in favor of making Christianity the official religion of their state. This undermines my ongoing efforts to make Christianity the state bird, or official state flower of Missouri and must be stopped.

MixiMobile's First "Real" Citybuilder Costs Players Billions

Social game "city-builders" like Zynga's popular Farmville, and Cityville are among a long-storied genre of games dating back to 2250 B.C. when Sargon the Great vanquished his foes to found the empire of Mesopotamia.

However, more recent entries into the genre rely on colorful digital representations of buildings and animals, placed around a fictional world in order to create the illusion of a booming metropolis, customized to players' taste. Many such games are funded by relatively inexpensive "in-app purchases," costing even players who choose to "monetize" only a couple of dollars during their entire time playing the game.

MixiMobile believes it has the answer to this. CTO, Flan Yazzer explains.

"We believe that fun comes from risk, and risk is something we are putting back into the equation for players. Our player wants a highly immersive experience."

To that end, MixiMobile has partnered with three major nationwide realtors and eight rental property managers to provide players real-world access to undeveloped land, raw materials, foreclosed homes, timeshares and waterfront views. Of course, all of this comes with a price tag.

"The first thing a player does when they open our game is remortgage their home. This provides an initial burst of PigiPoints with which they will buy a small plot of marshland paradise."

"Players will then clock in and begin working at one of our factories to earn additional PigiPoints for decorations, plants and eventually security systems to protect their treasures from real-world burglars. By the end of the tutorial, players will have adopted a cat and visibly aged."

The formula is working. "MixiTown" is boasts incredibly high player retention as participants begin to acquire household electronics and cement yard decorations.

"Some players even choose to make this a fashion-focused game, buying custom garments and maintaining expensive hairstyles in order to impress their friends."

No matter how you choose to play MixiTown one thing is clear, "There has never been a better time to buy beachfront property."

5 Exciting Management Concepts to Super-Charge Your Authority

• Potentialize - This super-functional combo term marries the words "potential" and "realize" or "to make real the potential." As a manager, you will be potentializing everything around you, so this is an indispensable word. Be sure to let others know when you feel you can "potentialize" their work.
• Undervise/Undervision - Nobody wants to be "supervised," but what would you say to your "undervisor?" Undervision is the concept that we can see more from below. Increasingly, we recognize that if there is a glass ceiling, there is also a glass floor. Are you the undervisor?
• Turbo-Target - The modern consumer is a fast-moving target, surrounded by distraction. If you want to capture attention nowadays, you will need to "turbo-target" your audience. Be sure to bring this up any time you feel something is anything less than perfect. Time to "turbo-target!"
• S.A.L.A.D. - The S.A.L.A.D. style of management is based around the classic structure, "Say And Listen And Do." If you are saying, listening, and doing, you are a S.A.L.A.D.
• Sticky Toes - What happens when a topic keeps coming up in your department? Perhaps it's another case of "sticky toes." Some workplaces send out a bi-weekly "Sticky Toe" memo, just to clear the air.

The Safe Distance Top Searches of 2012

After tabulating all my search engine traffic, I am happy to share the hottest Internet search terms which brought people to this resource-filled website in 2012!

1. Komodo Dragon Attack (48) *HOT TERM!*
2. Teen Love Doll (37)
3. Homosex (30)
4. Fingers (25)
5. Sperm Owl (2)

Thank you! I hope I can continue to bolster your research on these topics and more, in 2013!

Review: Windows 8 / SeaTac Airport Travelodge

Though I received a review copy of Windows 8 several months ago, I made a commitment to hold off on this write-up until my recent stay at the SeaTac Airport Travelodge.

And I'm glad I waited. Microsoft has been hard at work patching and refining their latest operating system, and the fruits of that labor created a perfect synergy with my accommodations at the budget-friendly motor lodge located less than five miles from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, with in-room coffee maker, cable television, air conditioning, and a free shuttle departing for the airport every thirty minutes.

As I booted up my Sony 11.6 inch SVE11125CXW with Windows 8 for the first time, I was struck by the spaciousness of my room's round wooden table with honey-colored finish, located conveniently next to two working power outlets and within reach of the air conditioning unit's control panel. I adjusted the temperature to 68ºF, which is broadly considered to be the ideal indoor temperature.

"In today's world, it's good not to be racist, and nobody knows that better than Microsoft."

Next, it was time to choose a WiFi network. (WiFi is a new method computer terminals are using for zapping information out of the sky.) However, I was unable to determine which WiFi host to select, as there were twelve options. "FREEONLINE," "TRAVEL," "TRAVELL," "Sally Holden's Hotspot"... The list was extensive! In the end I chose "Jjtom-8wifi" but this network required a password so I gave up after a few guesses.

Microsoft then prompted me to create a "temporary account." I did this by entering my full name and the password "PASSWORD." This seemed to work, but before I was able to complete the setup process I heard several loud gunshots in rapid succession, followed by rage-filled screams!

Ducking beneath the spacious wooden table, I was dismayed to discover that there was not enough room for me to fit under the bed; the bed frame was too low to the ground! Perhaps I could crawl to the bathroom, where the understated beige tile walls would offer me greater protection? But there wasn't time.

My body tensed; eyes clenched as the window above shattered with a deafening crash. Shards of wet glass sprayed across the room like an ice storm on some terrifying alien planet. Then, silence. The smell of damp air and gun smoke. I wondered, "Will the new Windows 8 Quick Resume feature allow me to pick up my profile setup where I left off?" In a word, "yes!" I was able to complete my setup with plenty of time left over to transfer to a new room and get some serious shut-eye on clean, white linen sheets under a reasonably handsome jewel-toned floral pattern polyester bedspread.

It seems obvious to me that even when things go wrong, Windows 8 and the SeaTac Airport Travelodge have got a "plan B!"

Ratings

User Interface: 6/10
Sanitation: 8/10
Distance from Airport: 8/10
Gaming: 4/10
Denny's: 6/10

Overall: 7/10

Book Review: My Rat, Second Edition

I need to be honest and admit that I don't own a rat. So there is a chance I am not the intended audience for Gerd Ludwig's Second Edition of 'My Rat' which seems to focus largely on proper treatment of domesticated rats, and the diagnosis of their potential biological issues.

Bearing this in mind, I skipped the sections about rats and was ultimately left with an empty feeling. How much of this advice can I apply to my daily life? What will I be able to do with 40 lbs. of Oxbow Essentials Regal Rat Food? I'm personally unable to substantiate the claim that the "delicious, bite-sized, apple-flavored kibbles appeal to any adult rat."

Readers who do not own a rat may find My Rat, Second Edition to be of limited use.

Another foible of this particular edition is the omission of any mention of the Lord Jesus, but I understand that this might be simply due to an overly subtle approach to ministry.

Safety Rating: 8/10
Better Options: Dancing With Cats

Gay Tree Houses Threaten the Foundation of Traditional Heterosexual Tree Houses

The sad fact is -- nine out of fifty states have already approved legal unions for same-sex couples (in some cases even calling such unions "marriage"). America may be drifting toward accepting immoral behavior into our churches and nurseries, but are we also ready to give up our traditional, heterosexual tree houses?

A recent study documented tree houses built by persons who had engaged in immoral sex acts with the same gender, versus tree houses built within the protection of a loving, heterosexual marriage. The results of the study are shocking.

• Heterosexual tree houses' most commonly touted features were "the windows," "the way it sits up there," and "it has a bucket."
• Homosexual tree houses included amenities such as "wet bar," "Harman Kardon® sound system," "hot tub," and "sling."
• While heterosexual tree house owners are more likely to take a passive stance toward pest control, gay owners typically employed a combination of motion detection and lasers.
• When given a budget of $500, heterosexual first-time builders used the funds to buy scraps of wood, while homosexual builders allocated the money toward further fundraising, leveraging female impersonators and wet underwear contests.

What kind of tree house do you want for America's future?